Ectaco caught using MobileRead to create fake buzz about Jetbook

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Cotton bananas.

[Elfwreck]

Current version of the Wikipedia "Controversy" section, with cite notes linking to the actual sources (this thread & the Digital Reader thread) instead of the Wikipedia notes section:

On July 25th, 2013 Ectaco was revealed to have been engaging in astroturfing on the MobileRead discussion forums.[5] Over the course of 5 years, two Ectaco employees posed as regular consumers of Ectaco products and used their forum memberships in an attempt to drum up phony grassroot support for Ectaco and its products. This is strictly against MobileRead policy, and the forum members in question have since been banned from the MobileRead website.


Ectaco has also been revealed to have been engaging in astroturfing on 2 ereader blogs and at least one other online forum.[6]

[GA Russell]

I'm very disappointed to read about these Ectaco activities.

I have been content with my jetBook Lite for three and a half years now.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Current version of the Wikipedia "Controversy" section, with cite notes linking to the actual sources (this thread & the Digital Reader thread) instead of the Wikipedia notes section:

Yep. I put it back.

[Lemurion]

And Alexis Reynolds returned the garbage...

So I fixed it, not sure how long the truth will hold...

[K. Molen]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

BTW, this is the edit history page for anyone interested in seeing what's been going on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...action=history

Heh. Looking through some of the older changes I found this from May 30th, 2009:

The company is known for its aggressive advertising in Russian and occationally questionable sales methods in Russian community. Their leading Russian-speaking salesperson, Semen sometimes uses language not completely appropriate for a salesperson.

Completely unsourced, so it makes sense that it's since been removed, but it certainly conforms to what we're all learning about this company.

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Wikipedia makes at least the 5th example of Ectaco's astroturfing (MobileRead, 2 ereader blogs, and another online forum)

Erm, outside of a suspiciously inflamatory edit on the Wikipedia page, do you have any evidence that it was a result of Ectaco employee?

Maybe people should let things sit for a couple of days because some of the stuff going on here is getting quite juvenile.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

Seems to be about right. This is what I'm seeing right now: link to screenshot of the relevant section of the current version of the Wikipedia page.

This is the current contents of the Controversy section in text form:

The current section on Wikipedia reads:

On July 25th, 2013 Ectaco was revealed to have been engaging in astroturfing on the MobileRead discussion forums.[5] Over the course of 5 years, two Ectaco employees posed as regular consumers of Ectaco products and used their forum memberships in an attempt to drum up phony grassroot support for Ectaco and its products. This is strictly against MobileRead policy, and the forum members in question have since been banned from the MobileRead website.


Ectaco has also been revealed to have been engaging in astroturfing on 2 ereader blogs and at least one other online forum.[6]

The text keeps changing, as at least one individual I suspect has ulterior motives keeps insisting on re-writing the history of the past 5 years.

The following statement, which Yapyap reported was on the site at one time today, is totally inaccurate:

Their claim was that Ectaco, Inc. employees used their online message boards to promote products without disclosing their relation to the company, an alleged violation of forum rules. Forum administrators were unable to provide any proof, citing confidentiality. After a review of the information it was deemed a failed attempt at extortion and racketeering in conjunction with Ectaco, Inc.'s refusal to advertise with the MobileRead.

MobileRead has never begged anyone to take out advertising on this site and doesn't need to. Moreover, as we all know and can bear witness, company representatives are welcome at MobileRead as long as they are up-front about their affiliations. It must be noted that it was a MobileRead member who first spotted Ectaco's duplicity. It was the investigation by the MobileRead team of moderators that confirmed that duplicity. We took no joy nor benefited in any way from what our investigation uncovered. The revelation to our members was a duty, not a pleasure.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Erm, outside of a suspiciously inflamatory edit on the Wikipedia page, do you have any evidence that it was a result of Ectaco employee?

Maybe people should let things sit for a couple of days because some of the stuff going on here is getting quite juvenile.

What WT Sharpe said.

Also, the guy who put that nasty stuff there is only credited with 2 edits. Both are in that section and both happened today. Given Ectaco's history I doubt this is a coincidence.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

And Alexis Reynolds returned the garbage...

So I fixed it, not sure how long the truth will hold...

Did you notice that AlexisReynolds has but a single edit?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special...AlexisReynolds

[murg]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Three out of four Americans prefer physical tacos to eTacos.

This is based on an older survey.

The most recent survey reveals that it's now two out of three Americans that prefer physical tacos to eTacos.

The search for the missing American is ongoing but rescuers are starting to give up hope.

[Lemurion]

I hadn't noticed, just thought it needed changing. Not that I have any history with Wikipedia, either.

Originally Posted by Nate the great

What WT Sharpe said.

Also, the guy who put that nasty stuff there is only credited with 2 edits. Both are in that section and both happened today. Given Ectaco's history I doubt this is a coincidence.

I trust that MR moderators have evidence of the Ectaco's actions on MR, and I'm not questioning that evidence.

I also admit that the Wikipedia deletions, and one of the edits in particular, look damning. Yet just because something appears to be true doesn't mean that it is true, and what you said certainly does not provide evidence that it is true.

People are upset about what happened. That is understandable. However, we need to stick to verifiable information rather than supposition because it is very easy to misinterpret events in cases like this (or to interpret events correctly, but for the wrong reasons).

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Three out of four Americans prefer physical tacos to eTacos.

But how many of them have even tried eTacos?

[crich70]

Originally Posted by gamba66

Hey guys,

I am actually the one who found out about these ECTACO profiles, many of you may wonder why I even did that. I actually wanted to buy the JBC2 but I wanted to inform myself about it beforehand and also them because of warranty and so on.. I really had some horrible first-hand experiences with that Company (just asking for info about the JBC2 via email) and in conclusion I would say these people are not only dumb but borderline criminal!

In Germany atleast you can send a product back for 2 Weeks if your unsatisfied and the product is in the same condition and you receive your money back. I have read countless reports of ECTACO not only refusing the return delivery but completely ignoring E-Mails and of coruse not refunding. Also many Customers reported when their Product broke even during Warranty time, instead of repairing the reader, they offer a "discount" for you to buy a new one.

I was very close to buying the JBC2 but besides it being a horrible product in itselve, ECATCO really made a very bad impression on me. I am shocked that anyone buys from them! I just think its fair that people should find out about their dubious way of making business so it saves them alot of money and trouble.

I even found out that the User LuBib (and probably also Kriss777) is in fact the "Product Manager" Greg Stetson of ECTACO. So he is not just some small employee

Spoiler:

I digged a little deeper and found some obvious evidence that LuBiB wasn't only an Employee but actually the Product Manager of Ectaco Greg Stetson.

Please take a look at this. In this Thread LuBiB states that he made a Video Review for the Jetbook.



Listen closely to his way of speaking..

Now if you look at that youtube channel there are 8 other videos, 6 of which directly relate to Ectaco.

If you look at CES 2010 Ectaco or Ectaco ER900 Video, LuBiB a.k.a Greg Stetson refers to himself as "Chris/Kris Anderson".

If you look at the ECTACO Youtube channel you will find some Videos where Greg Stetson introduces the Jetbook Color for example: Jetbook Color

Now compare this to the Video that LuBiB has posted! Also one could think that the Kris777 account also belonged to him, since he refers to himself as "Chris/Kris Anderson" (he only says it in the videos)

This video describes Greg Stetson role at Ectaco

I think it is a scandal that Greg Stetson, the product manager of ECTACO, gives himself fake identities to push the products of his company, this clearly just shows what a dubious and borderline criminal company ECTACO is in the End!

Here is also my original post:

Spoiler:

Hello,

I have come to this forum as an Ereader Enthusiast, I have been thrilled to find out about the possibilities E-Ink delivers while also accounting it's limits (flashing, ghosting and static content).

When I heard about Color E-Ink I was excited at first but the only product that came to the market until now is from a Company called Ectaco in the form of the Jetbook Color 1 and 2. Thanks to this forum and many honest User experiences I could draw myself a pretty complete picture of how this product would be and came to the conclusion that the Jetbook Color (1 or 2) is a disaster at any pricepoint, but even more so at 400$ to 500$. Also while reading about customer experiences with Ectaco I noticed many people having even trouble returning their products in the law-regulated time of 2 Weeks usually, Ectaco would just ignore E-mails or even send the products back. Thanks to this forum and also sources of customer reviews (such as amazon) it is obvious for me Ectaco is a very dubious company with very questionable business strategies. And I also know this because I have had some first-hand experience with them asking about their products and special deals!

While reading the Ectaco forums I couldn't stop but notice some certain users, who had a consistency in positive opinions about the products from Ectaco. But not only that, they even had some very obvious advertisements for their products and that not only once but very often, of course only for Ectaco. Obviously, this doesn't only abuse Mobileread as a place for very direct advertising but also distorts public opinions about the Ectaco products, since they at no point ever indicate that they are from ectaco or stand in any relationship to them.

This makes my opinion of the company even worse but also leads me to the question:


Is it allowed to use mobileread forums as a direct advertising platform and even distort opinions from customer reviews?

I thought forums are used from customers for opinions and reviews and if people from companies are here, they state that so and give support and help. But what these Users do is manipulate opinions and try to sell products directly by posting links to "special offers"

So that you can make your own opinions, here is a quote from one of my previous posts, reacting to one of these "employees":

Spoiler:

Here is the relevant thread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=208488&page=3

In conclusion I just want to warn people about this Company because.

1. ECTACO doesn't have any customer service (dont accept returns, don't repair and basically don't reply to any e-mails only if its in their interest)

2. They use fake accounts to promote themselves on forums (not just this one also others such as a large russian community, dunno if I can name it)

3. They fake youtube video reviews of their products and give themselves even fake names.

I hope you are warned.

It sounds in some ways like a computer co. I bought a laptop from yrs ago. I had a problem well before a yr had gone by (the cd/dvd drive ceased to work) and I never could get any customer service for it. Nor was I the only one that had trouble with that particular model of laptop.